Baseball Post-Season 2010

[Mister Tee]

Well, I doubt Bog enjoyed it much, but a salute to Roy Halladay -- a perfect game and a post-season no-hitter in the same season. Guess that trade's worked out pretty well for the Phillies.

[Eric]

I have zero idea how the Yanks/Twins matchup will go.

I do. I'm not holding my breath. The one thing the Twins have going for them right now is being better rested.

[Mister Tee]

Eek -- the playoffs start in 20 minutes or so, meaning honest predictions have to be locked in.

I spend less time watching the NL, so have to go on third-hand observation. The Phillies and Giants appear to have the significant pitching edge, as well as home field, in their match-ups. The Braves in particular appear to have just held on since Chipper departed. The norm in recent years has been for short first-round series, and that may well happen again. Phils and SF to meet for the pennant.

In the AL, each surviving team has one squelching lefty starter, then a series of question marks after. The gap between the Rays and Rangers appears to be the largest on this side of the playoffs, esp. since no one knows how compromised Josh Hamilton is. If Cliff Lee can't win over Price in the first game, the Rangers seem likely to go down.

I have zero idea how the Yanks/Twins matchup will go. Though their records are very close, the run-differential stat sabremetricians so love has the Yanks better by 30-40 runs -- and almost all of the Twins' over-.500 record (and late run) was accumulated against their own crappy division (they were only 4 games over against the rest of baseball). That plus recent years of Yankee domination in head-to-head would seem to make NY the favorite...but the Yanks have fared poorly in all their other wild card years, and really looked dazed down the stretch. I guess you have to go with history and predict a Yankee win, but I more than halfway expect it's the Twins' turn.

[Mister Tee]

Maybe I don't hate the Yankees. Maybe it's just NY media I hate.

I guarantee you, not one player on the team won't be furious about a story like that. This team has always practiced a "don't stir it up" philosophy. (Last night, YES network ran the final game of the World Series, and, even after the game was over, Jeter kept giving credit to the Phillies) It's especially stupid in a year when the Twins are clearly better than in previous years, with practically the same record as the Rays and Yanks. But, you know -- the Daily News has to compete with the Murdoch Post, for whom appealing-to-the-stupid is a divine mission.

Damien, I had a similar experience to your Sunday activity back in '03. We had theatre tickets the night of what we now know as the Aaron Boone game. Like you, I was utterly distracted throuighout the play -- and mortally annoyed when I was in the men's room at intermission, and some jackass on a cell phone bellowed out "So, Boston's ahead 3-0? What -- another run just scored?" The positive for me is, we arrived home just as the game went into the bottom of the 8th -- i.e., when the Yankees made their comeback. So in the end I was spared alot of direct suffering and got mostly elation.

[Eric]

Maybe I don't hate the Yankees. Maybe it's just NY media I hate.

[Damien]

"Harrowing" is a good way to describe the weekend. I was heartsick after Friday's game -- it just seemed like such a bad omen, an omen that was fulfilled on Saturday. I went to see a friend's off-off-Broadway show, but I couldn't concentrate because I was dreading game 162.

Loved the victory lap that Panda started after the game.

Wish there had been a playoff game for the Padres to have a chance to get in.

Tee,here's the one and only positive thing you'll hear from me on the Yankees for the rest of the year. Congratulations on making the play-offs (again!).

[danfrank]

Thanks, Tee. It was a harrowing weekend, but all's well that ends well. I'm also a bit sad for the Padres, even though they kicked our butts all season and nearly killed me these last few days. I'm a big admirer of Bud Black, and always appreciate a team with a good bullpen; the Padres have the best in the business.

Good luck to everyone's teams, and that even includes the Yankees! I'm just hoping to see some good ball.

[Mister Tee]

So, congratulations to our Giants fans, who can come out of their crouches now. I have to say I feel a bit sorry for San Diego, which expected so little from this season and led for so long, only to fall one win short of at least a share of the wild card.

Fun fact I saw somewhere else: though SF and ATL have obviously shifted location, all four NL qualifiers are from the original 8 teams -- first time it's happened in the wild card era.

I have zero idea how the post-seaon is going to go, but I'll try to come up with some forecast by Wednesday. It should be more raucous than usual around here, with so many board favorites making it into the tournament.

[Sonic Youth]

Sonic, how did Mrs. Sonic get to be a Braves fan? Did she live in Atlanta at some point?

It's a funny story, actually. Mrs. Sonic spent her first year in America in Gainesville, Georgia. She didn't follow baseball at all back then, although many people in her school were fanatical Braves fans... and it was an all-girls school, too. It wasn't until she moved up to New York state and met me that she became a baseball fan. She was a big sports fan in India. She enjoyed watching tennis, football (soccer), and the Olympics, but she loved cricket most of all. Since there's no cricket in America, she learned to love baseball in its place. And she learned all about baseball by watching the Braves on the TBS network. She still misses cricket terribly, but when the Braves are on and they happen to be creaming the Yankees or Mets, this sweet, diminutive young Indian woman is indistinguishable from your nasty, rude American a-hole. Ugh, where'd she learn such foul language?

Never mind what I said earlier about her disenchantment. She's excited all over again, even though she knows it will probably not come to much.

[Mister Tee]

Though Bog's scenario has a huge self-interest quotient for his team, I presume many baseball fans without a rooting stance would like to see the same outcome, for the sheer novelty of it. (In much the same way, if you were indifferent to the outcome, the 2000 election result would have delighted the poli sci geek in you) It's hard for me to believe the Giants would lose the 4 in a row required to actually exit the playoffs, but I guess fans who lived through Game 6 of '02 can't rule out any catastrophe.

Given the staggering down the stretch, it's hard to say any team really deserves its playoff spot this year, apart from the Phillies. AL playoff teams have been losing so consistently in the past two weeks, you have to wonder who's doing all the winning -- I guess Buck's Orioles. It was inconceivable Tampa would lose two to KC...but just as ludicrous that the Yanks should drop their second game yesterday to the PawSox. Whoever ends up with home-field advantage will simply be the least unimpressive of the batch.

[Damien]

Sonic, how did Mrs. Sonic get to be a Braves fan? Did she live in Atlanta at some point?

[danfrank]

Like I said: Giants baseball...torture!

I'm so angry at Bochy for putting Guillen in to hit in the 9th inning. As soon as he was announced I knew he was going to hit into a double play. Bochy says he likes to go with the hot bats, but Guillen's has been as cold as ice.

I can barely stand to watch today's game.

[Sonic Youth]

My wife, the disgusted and disenchanted Braves fan, has given up. Even if they secure a playoff spot, she says it's undeserved.

If the Braves through some miracle manage to make it to the playoffs against the Yankees, I'll root for the Braves for her sake. We were living together in 1995, the last time they won the World Series, and we both fell asleep during the final game. When we awoke, it was 3am and she missed the winning play and the celebration. Can you imagine how that must feel? I can't and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[Damien]

Well Damien, the good news for you is that today will not be the Giants last game of the year. They can't be eliminated today (whereas the Padres and Braves can), so they will play at least one more game!

Bog, be careful what you wish for. Under your dream scenario, the ultimate winner may be totally pumped up while the Redlegs are rusty from inactivity.

But those one-game playoffs are excruciating! (I know from past experience.)

[FilmFan720]

Well Damien, the good news for you is that today will not be the Giants last game of the year. They can't be eliminated today (whereas the Padres and Braves can), so they will play at least one more game!